Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Hello all,

I've experienced this weird swallowing thing on two separate occasions, both were anxiety induced with insomnia, so I believe that is why I'm experiencing it again. It doesn't happen when I first go to sleep since I think that's because I'm really tired, but after waking up early in the morning, I try to get back to sleep and right as I drift off, I feel my throat swallow even though I know I'm not doing it intentionally. It startles me and it will happen another few times as I'm trying to fall back asleep. It's so frustrating that I lose a bunch of sleep over it. I'm taking medications for sleep too and I still wake up and this happens. It's been going on for the last month and a half on and off since I started experiencing anxiety again. I've been on Lexapro the entire time for anxiety, and I've gotten better but I just had to increase the dose because I'm still somewhat anxious. Anyway, I would think that Lexapro would help get this to go away (it has in the past), but it's Lexapro that I believe is causing my insomnia.

Has anyone else had this same spasm/jerk sensation in their throat while drifting off to sleep? It's such a weird feeling. It's beginning to concern me since it's not really going away as fast as it did in the past when it happened.

-Crystal

Cboxer1

07-22-2013 04:02 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Hi crystal.

I was wondering if the half swallow thing is still happening to you? I have the exact same thing. I mean exact. It's when I'm trying to fall back asleep early in the morning usually around 5:30 or 6:00 am. I have no idea what it would be and you are the only person that I've been able to find that knows what I'm talking about. Have you talked to a doctor about it? If so what did they say? Thanks.

C

shrtcak81

07-25-2013 08:57 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Hi Cboxer 1,

Sorry I just now saw this post. I haven't been on here in quite some time. I've had that swallowing thing twice now on separate occasions, both times when I was going through a lot of anxiety. After I started taking an antidepressant again it cleared up and hasn't happened since. The body is very strange! Have you been experiencing a lot of stress or anxiety? I think it went on with me for a couple months and then disappeared. So hopefully it will go away for you!

Crystal

Cboxer1

07-26-2013 12:16 AM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Hi crystal,

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm glad to hear it cleared up for you. I am still dealing with it every morning. I don't think I've slept past 5 am in over 3 weeks. Once it starts, every time I'm drifting off back to sleep, it happens again and scares the crap out of me. After 3 or 4 attempts, I just give in and get up. There is no pain involved, its just feels like a swallow, but without the tongue. It's only in my throat. I've had a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety lately. I've never had anxiety problems before. I don't know why all of a sudden I think I have every horrible disease known to man. I just can't shake it. I have gone through a lot in the past year (lost both parents and a bunch of other stuff). I've had more stress in the past year than I've had in the 33 other years combined. Hopefully it's all stress related and it will just go away. I went to an ENT yesterday and he didn't think much about it. He is sending me for a swallow study on Monday just to ease my mind. I haven't had any problems swallowing though so I don't think that's going to provide much info. Thanks again for getting back to me, and I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.

C

Hypnicswallow

11-04-2013 09:33 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

[QUOTE=Cboxer1;5203780]Hi crystal,

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm glad to hear it cleared up for you. I am still dealing with it every morning. I don't think I've slept past 5 am in over 3 weeks. Once it starts, every time I'm drifting off back to sleep, it happens again and scares the crap out of me. After 3 or 4 attempts, I just give in and get up. There is no pain involved, its just feels like a swallow, but without the tongue. It's only in my throat. I've had a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety lately. I've never had anxiety problems before. I don't know why all of a sudden I think I have every horrible disease known to man. I just can't shake it. I have gone through a lot in the past year (lost both parents and a bunch of other stuff). I've had more stress in the past year than I've had in the 33 other years combined. Hopefully it's all stress related and it will just go away. I went to an ENT yesterday and he didn't think much about it. He is sending me for a swallow study on Monday just to ease my mind. I haven't had any problems swallowing though so I don't think that's going to provide much info. Thanks again for getting back to me, and I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.

C[/QUOTE]

I'm also suffering from this swallowing problem. It happens without fail when I'm about to fall asleep. I was on Valium and some other benzos for about two weeks, and one point I developed severe insomnia, so the doc prescribed rameron, which sent me to deep sleep. But the following day I developed thus hypnic jerk. It's an involuntary swallowing that usually is accompanied by a sound. This is living hell, it would jolt me awake multiple times without fail every night , it's been happening for a week. Has your problem gone away? This period I've been under a lot of stress and anxiety, but this really makes living extremely nightmarish.

Hypnicswallow

11-04-2013 09:37 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

[QUOTE=shrtcak81;5203750]Hi Cboxer 1,

Sorry I just now saw this post. I haven't been on here in quite some time. I've had that swallowing thing twice now on separate occasions, both times when I was going through a lot of anxiety. After I started taking an antidepressant again it cleared up and hasn't happened since. The body is very strange! Have you been experiencing a lot of stress or anxiety? I think it went on with me for a couple months and then disappeared. So hopefully it will go away for you!

Crystal[/QUOTE]

Has your problem gone away for good? I really hope this problem is not permanent, like some nerve damage or neuron transmitter damage or something.

Cboxer1

11-04-2013 10:15 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with this as well. I went for a swallow study, and everything came back fine. There was a period of time that I was really making progress with my stress, and as soon as I got that under control, it went away. It didn't do it for several months. It was great. But just lately for the last couple of weeks, I've had some large stressors in my life again and like clockwork, the swallow problem has returned. I truly believe stress is the culprit. It's the only correlating factor. I guess it just goes to show how powerful the mind is, and how stress can manifest itself physically. I really hope you find a way to manage your stress and that this pain in the butt problem goes away with it.

Hypnicswallow

11-18-2013 05:55 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Did your swallowing problem happen after you took any medicine? E.g benzodiazepines like Valium or klonopin , or sleep aid like rameron(mirtazepan)?

Cboxer1

11-19-2013 09:22 AM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Nope I'm not on any meds. It just seems to happen in the morning. If I wake up for some reason around 6:00am or later, then try to fall back asleep, it will happen when drifting off. If i stay asleep until my alarm wakes me up, I don't do it, or don't notice it at least. I've had tons of mucus in the back of my throat for a while now. It's the reason I went to the doc in the first place. I wonder if the mucus is irritating my throat and my body is involuntarily trying to clear it. But it's not a complete swallow. It's like a "half swallow". So weird.

Hypnicswallow

11-19-2013 09:05 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Did you have insomnia when it first happened to you? So the first time it happened you were having a lot of mucus in the throat? I know what you mean by half swallow. Only the lower half of the throat moves, or contracts.

Cboxer1

11-20-2013 09:12 AM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

[QUOTE=Hypnicswallow;5243920]Did you have insomnia when it first happened to you? So the first time it happened you were having a lot of mucus in the throat? I know what you mean by half swallow. Only the lower half of the throat moves, or contracts.[/QUOTE]

I would say when it started, I was so stressed out that I couldn't sleep. I don't know if it was true insomnia, or if it was the stress, but I wasn't sleeping either way. I still deal with tons of thick sticky mucus that coats the back of my throat. I am constantly clearing and spitting. I don't know if its post nasal drip or not, but it's definitely coming down from my nasal passages. The docs didn't seem too worried about it. They just said to drink more water and that it could also be stress induced. I have lowered my stress level by trying to accept what the doctors have told me, and that's that I am ok and don't have anything serious wrong with me. It's easier said than done, but when I forget about it and move on, I sleep better, and the swallowing problem is either gone as well, or much less noticeable.

Hypnicswallow

11-27-2013 08:01 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

You have never experienced this during day time?

Cboxer1

11-28-2013 08:59 AM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Nope. Never happened during the day.

monchi2175

04-16-2014 09:51 PM

Re: Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

I have had this on and off for five years now...I KNOW where mine comes from and it's NOT medical. Let me ask you this...has anyone had issues in the past with men or women...and I don't want to be gross or graphic, but it really helps to know if you all have had a similar past. I mean a problem with men/women and oral related activities if you know what I mean?? I did, and my issues stem from that...Five years ago I did a search for this type of issue, and NO ONE had it, and no doctor knew about it AT ALL!! I found out by a group of Christians praying for me what it was, and how it's caused. If you have any questions...just ask.